A Mother's Love
by weirdgirl42
Summary: Post Fin. Eve gets a message from her mother, Gabrielle is in trouble.


_Title: A Mother's Love  
Author: Weirdgirl42  
Summary: Post Fin. Eve gets a message from her mother, Gabrielle is in trouble.  
Rating: K+  
Spoilers: Pretty much the whole thing.  
Author's Note: I recently rediscovered this show. This is a scene I would think likely to happen sometime after Xena has died. Enjoy!_

**A Mother's Love**

Eve shot out of sleep, her breath coming in short gasps. The vision had been too real to be a dream. She had hoped, since learning of her mother's death that Xena would appear to her, let her know that she was alright. But until that night there had been no word.

The news of the warrior's death had reached Eve not long before. She had mourned deeply, but at the same time felt something akin to pride. Her mother's death had accomplished what Xena had always wanted, she had brought peace to so many. Eve was now more proud than ever that her mother's blood flowed through her veins.

She had to admit though, seeing Xena in her sleep had been a comfort. To hear her mother's words of love again and see her smile once more had brought Eve a new kind of peace with Xena's death.

But her mother's message had not been all good. As Eve rose from bed and began to dress she recalled the frightened words and frantic instructions Xena had given before disappearing into the cosmos.

Gabrielle was in trouble, and unless Eve hurried, all might be lost.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rome, Eve thought, was a strange place for Gabrielle to end up. From what she understood, Rome was a place filled with only bad memories for her mother and partner. So it was with a wary heart that she trekked up the hill a villager had pointed to when Eve had asked him where she could find the traveling bard from Greece.

The small hut stood at the top of the hill. Eve knocked and waited. When there was no response she knocked again. Still nothing. Not even a sound within. So she slowly opened the door and stepped into the dwelling.

The first thing she noticed, other than the absence of any person, was the clutter. Clothes, weapons, food, dishes, and mostly pieces of scrolls lay scattered on every surface. Gabrielle, who had always managed to make a campsite look tidy, had apparently given up cleaning of any kind. Eve picked up some of the scrolls and glanced over their contents. Most of the pages seemed to be either a record of Gabrielle and Xena's adventured, or letters the bard had written her partner after the warrior's death.

Some of the letters seemed almost happy. Gabrielle writing of the people she was meeting, of the places she had revisited from their travels, of her desire for her own horse. She wrote she would name it Jason, to match Argos.

But other letters, more recent ones by their dates, were decidedly dark. Gabrielle wrote of longer being able to feel Xena with her. Of waking up each day feeling such a pain inside. Of barely sleeping at all. She wrote of how much better it would be if they were together again. Of how much she wanted to make that the case.

Eve replaced the scrolls before their contents made her cry. Hearing a noise she quickly turned just in time to block the blow from Gabrielle's staff.

"Wait! Gabrielle it's me!" Eve cried before Gabrielle could swing again.

The bard froze for a moment before slowly lowering her staff. "Eve" she all but whispered.

Eve was taken aback when she finally got a good look at the older woman. Gabrielle had always been slender but she was now sickly thin. There were dark circles under her eyes which no longer held any of the light that Eve had always associated with her. The light that Eve knew was one of the reasons her mother had loved Gabrielle so much. It wasn't until Eve felt Gabrielle's arms around her that she finally spoke.

"Hello 'Abby," she said, using the name she had called Gabrielle as a baby unable to pronounce the G or R. Gabrielle let out a single sob at the name and hugged Eve tighter. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I only found not long ago."

Gabrielle pulled away and wiped her eyes. "No I'm sorry, I should have come to tell you myself. I just…I…" She trailed off and turned away, heading out the front door. Eve watched from the entryway as Gabrielle took the saddle off her beautiful chestnut brown horse before leading the animal to the back of the house. Eve followed close behind.

"Is this Jason then?" she asked.

Gabrielle gave her a puzzled look. "How did you…you read the scrolls?"

Eve's silence was reply enough.

"Why did you?"

"Because we're worried about you," Eve said.

"Who's we?"

Eve took a breath. "Mother and I." She saw Gabrielle's shoulders stiffen. "She came to me in a dream. She said you were in trouble."

"Well as you can see," Gabrielle said, gesturing to the vast open fields that surrounded her hut, "there's very little trouble to be had here."

"Not that kind of trouble. Not giants or warlords or gods. Trouble inside. She said you were in danger from yourself. That you wanted to stop living."

Gabrielle's eyes narrowed and she spoke with malice and despair. "How could she know that? She's gone. At first I could feel her near me all the time but now," she wrapped her arms around herself, "not she's left me."

"No. No she could never leave you. Not even if you wanted her to. You are a part of each other. Nothing can change that. You can't feel her anymore because all you're letting yourself feel is pain."

"I can't help it! All there is to feel is pain!"

They were silent for a while. At last Eve spoke. "Come home with me. Come home to Greece. I know we can make the pain stop."

"I don't have a home." Gabrielle's voice was no longer angry. Now it held only weariness and defeat. "Xena was my home. Eve you don't understand. Your mother and I…we were…we weren't just…"

"I know," Eve said. "I always knew. You guys weren't as subtle as you think you were. A person would have to be blind not to know."

Gabrielle closed her eyes. "Then you see what it's better if I'm dead too."

"No!" Eve said adamantly. "It's not better, not at all."

"Why? What possible difference could it make?"

"It makes all the difference!"

"How?"

"Because I already lost one mother, I couldn't bear to lose the other one too!" Eve cried at last, not even noticing the shocked expression on Gabrielle's face. She felt the tears begin to roll down her cheeks but pressed on. "When one parent dies, that's when a child needs the other one even more. I may not be a child anymore but I need you 'Abby. I need you more than ever."

It was too much for Gabrielle. She put her head in her hands and fell to her knees on the ground. Eve was at her side in an instant, holding the woman her mother loved tightly in her arms.

"I love you 'Abby," she whispered. "I don't think I can get through this without you. Please don't make me try."

Gabrielle just held on tighter, finally letting the pain wash out of her. The remained like that for a long time before finally pulling apart.

"Okay," Gabrielle said at last, "let's go home."

Eve smiled and nodded before heading into the house to gather the things they would need for the trip, including the scrolls.

Gabrielle stood looking out over the hill. For the first time in many months, she felt calm. And then all of a sudden there was a presence beside her, and arms wrapped around her shoulders. She leaned into the phantom embrace, relishing the contact after so long without it.

"I'm always here," she heard Xena say. Then she felt a brush of lips against her own, before the presence moved away, to watch over her forever.

The End

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